The Way of St Benedict

Summary: A series of loosely connected essays about the influence of the rule of Benedict and Benedictine spirituality on the church.

I have read a number of Rowan Williams' short books. Most of those books were based on lectures and compiled into books later. This seems to be different in that it appears to be a series of essays that was compiled into a book and just doesn't have the same level of coherence as I tend to expect from Williams' books. That isn't to say they are bad essays, I learned a lot about the history and influence of the Benedictine order. But I think as long as you go into the book with an expectation of essays that are loosely connected and not as a more intentionally shaped book, you will be rightly primed for what the book is.

One of the reviews I skimmed through complained about the last essay, which is less about Benedictines broadly and more about a particular Benedictine author's book. I agree with the comment, but I also found that essay the most engaging of the book because it was about a book trying to grapple with mysticism in the early 20th century (about the same time that Evelyn Underhill was writing her book on mysticism.) Williams was helpful in pointing out that we tend to think of mysticism phenomenologically or sometimes epistemologically, but that isn't how all people at all times have thought about mysticism. Those are both useful ways to explore mysticism, but they do limit the concept of mysticism if those are the only methods of exploration.

The Rule of St Benedict is probably the thing most people are aware of, even if they haven't actually read it. There is a good discussion of the rule, but you probably do want to have a little familiarity with the rule before you start. I have read it all, but it has been a while ago and I probably should have stopped and read it all again before reading the book.

Most of the first section reflects on the rule and the ways that the rule shaped Benedictines to stability and obedience and virtue. These sections are all helpful but because I am not brand new to Benedictine spirituality, that was less new than the last two chapters. I have already mentioned the last chapter on mysticism as my favorite chapter. But the chapter of the history of reforms within Benedictine order was helpful because much of that was new to me. As someone that is always interested in reforming system, understanding the influence of both successful and failed reforms is helpful.

Overall, this wasn't my favorite book of Williams, and I am glad I picked it up while it was on sale. But there was value for me reading it even if I think it will be too narrow for many readers.

I posted this originally on my blog at https://bookwi.se/the-way-of-st-benedict/